STARTUP ACTION PLAN: 120 VENTURES GET PATENTS, 1 GRANTED IN
JUST 101 DAYS
As many as 120 startups
have received patents for their products until March 31 this year under the
Startup India action plan, according to the Department for Promotion of
Industry and Internal Trade's data. Steps taken by the department has led to
the grant of a patent in only 101 days to a startup MicroGO LLP. The Department
for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) launched a scheme for
facilitating the filing of intellectual property applications by startups. It
has also empanelled facilitators, whose fees are borne by the government. It
provides 80 per cent rebate in patent filing and 50 per cent for trademarks
They also have a facility for expeditious examination of patent applications by
startups. According to the data, as on March 31 this year, 450 applications
were filed since 2016 under the fast examination facility and 120 patents were
granted and 42 were refused for certain reasons. Generally, it takes about 4-7
years for the grant of patents, but the department is taking steps to
drastically reduce this time to 18 months.
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NEW GOVERNMENT TO ANNOUNCE THE PROPOSED INDUSTRIAL POLICY: SURESH
PRABHU
Suresh Prabhu Thursday
said the proposed new industrial policy has been finalised and the new
government would announce that. We have finalised the industry policy. I am
sure that the new government will announce that soon, Prabhu said. Though the
ministry has sent the final proposal of the policy to the Cabinet, but it was
not taken up for consideration. It aims at promoting emerging sectors and
modernising existing industries. It will also look to reduce regulatory
hurdles, cut paper work and support emerging and new sectors. The ministry has
planned to set up an elaborate machinery including a steering committee for
effective implementation of the policy. This will be the third industrial
policy after the ones released in 1956 and 1991. It will replace the industrial
policy of 1991 which was prepared in the backdrop of the balance of payment
crisis. Talking about increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) into India, he
emphasised on the need to have a proper strategy to attract overseas inflows in
greenfield as well as brownfield projects. We are trying to bring in more FDI.
FDI will come either in greenfield area or it could be through acquisition. So,
we must prepare a strategy on both. We should target those companies that can
invest because they have investable surplus and same time, we must have a
matching sectoral strategy wherein inbound investments can be absorbed, he
said. He said that in 2018-19, India's exports of goods and services would
touch about USD 540 billion. Further, he added that thousands of start-ups have
been recognised by the ministry and it is also working on removing hurdles in
their path to promote budding entrepreneurs. Prabhu said the ministry is in the
process of preparing a template to negotiate future agreements by involving all
concerned stakeholders. Industry has raised concern that FTAs which was signed
by India is not benefitting domestic players. On a question that ease of doing
business is not visible on the ground, the minister said they are working at
district levels to improve business environment.
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REFORMING LEGAL SYSTEM IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: SANJEEV
SANYAL
Amid the reform talks all
over to built India for 2022, government feels that reforming the country's
legal system is the most important reform needed in India at this time. Reforming
the legal system is the most important reform. We need to double our number of
judges and set up more number of courts on the country, Sanjeev Sanyal, said
outlining that the ability to enforce contracts will be India's biggest
constraint going forward. Amitabh Kant said that government needs to get out of
most areas and rather focus on land efficiency, labour and capital for India
@75. If India wants to grow at double-digit over next three decades and uplift
millions out of poverty we need to focus on nutrition, health and education,
Kant said. Commenting on the role of corporates in building up an India for
2022, TV Narendra of Tata Steel said corporates need to take a more balanced
view while government needs to ensure system competitiveness is not diluted.
India needs to leverage its attractiveness of a big market to attract more
investments and create more jobs, Narendran said. Hardeep Singh Puri, however,
said behavioural change is needed to bring in the change we are seeking in
India by 2022 and beyond.
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MORE THAN 17,000 AYUSHMAN BHARAT-HEALTH AND WELLNESS CENTRES
BECOME OPERATIONAL
Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare along with World Health Organization (WHO) formed a Solidarity
Human Chain as part of the World Health Day celebrations to reaffirm their
commitment to bridging gaps and working collaboratively towards Universal
Health Coverage (UHC). At the event, Ms. Preeti Sudan also administered the
solidarity pledge to work towards making universal health care available to
everyone, everywhere. Secretary (Health) further stated that Ayushman Bharat
has two components - Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) for Primary Health Care
and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) for secondary and tertiary care. These
components are linked to address the major challenges of ensuring continuum of
care, two-way referral system and gatekeeping. Ms. Preeti Sudan said that the
government is committed to strengthening 1,50,000 health facilities as Health
and Wellness Centres which will deliver Comprehensive Primary Health Care
closer to where people live in the rural and urban areas. As of today, more than
17,000 HWCs are operational across the country and are providing services for
non-communicable diseases in addition to existing services for reproductive and
child health, communicable diseases etc, Ms. Preeti Sudan elaborated. Henk
Bekedam said, A well-equipped primary health care delivery system is the key to
achieving universal health coverage. This will require bringing quality care
closer to people; strengthening peripheral health centres with linkages to
secondary and tertiary care; and equipping primary health care providers to
effectively deliver a package of preventive, promotive, curative and
rehabilitative services.
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AIR INDIA DENIES PRICE OF VVIP BOEING 777-300S TO RTI
APPLICANT WITHOUT REASONS; CIC ISSUES SHOW-CAUSE
An irked Central
Information Commission (CIC) issued a show-cause notice to Air India's CPIO on
Thursday for the callous attitude while denying information about the purchase
price of Air India-I aircraft to ferry VVIPs like the president and the prime
minister. The national carrier, while denying an RTI applicant the details of
the cost and status of the purchase of Boeing 777-300, to be used as Air
India-I, did not invoke any of the RTI exemption clauses in an inordinately
delayed response, Information Commissioner Divya Prakash Sinha noted. An RTI
applicant had approached the commission the highest adjudicating body under the
Right to Information (RTI) Act, after he failed to get a satisfactory response
from Air India. Air India has purchased two Boeing 777-300ERs, which will
replace the over 25-year-old jumbo jets -- B747-400s -- which used to ferry the
president, vice-president and the prime minister. The jets chartered by the
national carrier for VVIP flights are given the call sign, Air India-I. When
the matter came up for hearing before the CIC, the Central Public Information
Officer (CPIO), the nodal officer for handling RTI applications in a public
authority, of Air India was not present. He had, instead, delegated it to a
different officer, who was caught unaware about the reasons for the delayed
response. The information could only be denied citing a suitable exemption
clause under the RTI Act and not merely on apprehensions and conjecture, Sinha
noted. The commission takes grave exception to the conduct of the CPIO, Air
India Limited in neither having attended the hearing nor having sent any
written submission with respect to the facts of the case in response to the
notice of hearing, he added. Sinha said the response to the RTI application by
the Air India CPIO was grossly inappropriate as it did not cite any exemption
clause while denying the information. Notwithstanding, it is pertinent to note
that applicability of neither of the exemption clauses of the RTI Act is
apparent in the matter as the appellant has merely sought to know the purchase
cost and the status of purchase of an aircraft, he said and directed the
national carrier to submit a fresh response with available and specific
information. The information commissioner issued a show-cause to the Air India
CPIO, asking him to submit a written response as to why action should not be
initiated against him under the penal provisions of the RTI Act for prima facie
not providing any reply on the RTI application within the stipulated time-frame
under the Act. If the CPIO fails to give a reasonable explanation for the delay
in furnishing the information, he may be slapped a penalty of up to Rs 25,000,
which has to be borne by him personally.
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DISTRICT-LEVEL ‘EASE OF DOING BUSINESS’ RANKING TO BE LAUNCHED
SOON: SURESH PRABHU
Suresh Prabhu said
district level ‘ease of doing business’ ranking will soon be launched to ensure
that smaller towns and districts become more business-friendly and have
broad-based growth. Back-ground work for ranking districts has already started
and a committee has been formed for this purpose, Prabhu said. The Minister
also the proposed new industrial policy, that targets an annual Foreign Direct
Investment inflow of $100 billion, has been finalised and is likely to be
announced by the new government. Emphasising the need to attract more FDI that
declined in the April-December 2018 period by 7 per cent to $ 33.5 billion, the
Minister said India needs to have a strategy to attract overseas investments in
both greenfield and brownfield projects. We should target those companies that
can invest because they have surplus and at the same time, we must have a
matching sectoral strategy where in inbound investments can be absorbed, he
said. The Minister said India’s exports of goods and services would touch $540
billion and overall trade deficit was likely to decline by about $10 billion
for the first time. The country’s goods exports grew 8.85 per cent to $298.47
billion during the April-February period of the current financial year. On Free
Trade Agreements (FTAs) being negotiated by the country, Prabhu said the
government would interact with the industry more on the issue.
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TIME TO EVOLVE MORE INNOVATIVE MEANS OF FINANCING: FINANCE
SECRETARY GARG
The financial sector in
India has to be cognizant of the changes that are happening in the different
elements of the economy, Subhash Chandra Garg said. Garg said investments are
needed in three main areas — infrastructure, digital economy and circular
economy. Garg said the infrastructure sector more investment and there is a
need to enable top global government pools of sovereign and pension funds to
invest in India. Sanjay Nayar, observed that India must rely more on domestic
savings that are both of high quality and of a longer duration. He also
stressed the need for a ‘super regulator’ in the financial sector to take
crucial calls and decide on the trade-offs. Kotak felt that strengthening of
the Financial Stability Development Council (FSDC) with even more active role
of the Finance Ministry is crucial for building a policy framework for India.
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DOT ISSUES PERMIT TO AIRTEL ARM INDO TELEPORTS TO OFFER
INFLIGHT CONNECTIVITY SERVICES
The telecom department
(DoT) has issued an authorisation certificate to Indo Teleports Ltd, a Bharti
Airtel arm, to provide inflight and maritime connectivity and broadband
services on domestic and foreign airlines using satellite systems. Indo
Teleports Ltd is permitted to provide IFMC service as per licences held by its
parenting licensee(s), in accordance to Flight & Maritime Connectivity Rules,
2018, the DoT said in a notification, dated April 3. The DoT though has said
all foreign personnel likely to be engaged by Indo Teleports for installation,
operation and maintenance of IFMC service, shall have to be security cleared by
the home ministry before deployment. Indo Teleports sets up and operates hubs
for TV broadcasters to beam their channels to satellites for transmission. The
company, formerly Bharti Teleports Ltd, was floated in 2008.
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RAHUL GANDHI DOESN'T OWN A CAR, ASSETS RISE FROM RS 9.4 CR TO
15.88 CR IN FIVE YEARS
Rahul Gandhi has assets
worth over 15.88 crore according to the affidavit filed by him on Thursday
while submitting his nomination papers for Wayanad Lok Sabha, he had declared
the value of his total assets as Rs 9.4 crore. The affidavit shows that Rahul
Gandhi does not own a car and has a total liability of Rs 72 lakh as loans from
various banks and other financial institutions. The Congress president, has
declared in his affidavit that there were five cases pending against him. While
the Congress chief has Rs 40,000 as cash-in-hand, he has Rs 17.93 lakh as
deposits in various banks. Gandhi also has investments worth Rs 5.19 crore in
bonds, debentures and shares in various companies in mutual funds. The assets
also include 333.3 grams of gold. Gandhi has declared that his source of income
was MP's salary, Royalty income, rental income, interest from bonds, dividends
and capital gain from mutual funds.The Congress chief has said that his
education qualification was M.Phil (Development Studies) from Trinity college,
University of Cambridge in 1995. The affidavit shows that Rahul Gandhi does not
own a car and as an SPG protectee he is required to travel in an SPG vehicle
for security reasons.
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SC REFUSES TO ENTERTAIN PLEA CHALLENGING AADHAAR ORDINANCE
The Supreme Court Friday
refused to entertain a plea challenging the recent Aadhaar Ordinance brought by
the Centre and asked the petitioners to approach the high court first with its
grievances. A bench of Justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer said they are not
expressing anything on the merits of the case and they would like to have the
view of the high court on the issue. We would like to have advantage of view of
the high court, the bench said. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the
petitioners, told the bench that it was a matter of national importance as it
would have a pan-India effect and the apex court should decided the issue. The
bench, however, allowed the petitioner to withdraw the plea and granted liberty
to approach the high court.
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DEBT-LADEN JET AIRWAYS' LENDERS TO INVITE BIDS FOR STAKE SALE
ON APRIL 6
Debt-laden Jet Airways'
lenders Thursday said they would invite bids for selling stake in the airline
on April 6 as part of a time-bound resolution plan. The consortium of lenders,
led by State Bank of India (SBI), took stock of the current situation at
cash-strapped Jet Airways and decided on the timeline for the stake sale. The
bids would be invited on April 6 and the last date for submission would be
April 9, the lenders said in a statement. The lenders are cognizant that the
outcome of the efforts of the lenders will depend on the interest shown by the
parties on sale of stake in the company, it said. While all efforts would be
made for the stake sale, the lenders said other options may be considered
should these efforts not result in an acceptable outcome. As part of the debt
resolution plan, lenders have taken control of the ailing airline.
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JET AIRWAYS LENDERS TO PUSH FORWARD WITH RESCUE PLAN; NO
CLARITY ON INTERIM FUNDING
Lenders to India's Jet
Airways said on Thursday that they intend to push forward with their plan to
rescue the troubled airline, but offered no clarity on interim funding leaving
the future of the carrier hanging in the balance. The rescue plan also included
a $218 million interim loan to keep the airline afloat. However, a source
familiar with the matter told late on Thursday that the lenders, which also
includes Punjab National Bank (PNB), were yet to decide on the interim loan for
the beleaguered carrier.
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PMO INTERVENES TO BAIL OUT BSNL, MTNL; ASKS DOT TO EXPEDITE
REVIVAL PROPOSALS
The Prime Minister Office
is learnt to have agreed in principle to bail out loss-making public sector
telecom firms MTNL and BSNL by addressing their three key pain points. In a
meeting held a couple of days back with representatives of telecom and finance
ministries and Niti Ayog, the PMO asked the Department of Telecom to send
expeditiously a roadmap for allocation of 4G spectrum to both the firms,
voluntary retirement scheme and grant of immediate financial aid, according to
an official source. The troubled PSUs have been seeking these three measures to
stay afloat amid cut throat competition in the telecom sector. The government
has taken a decision that both MTNL and BSNL have to be revived and sustained
in a healthy manner. Senior officer from PMO held a meeting with DoT, finance
ministry and Niti Aayog in which it has been decided that DoT will submit a
detailed roadmap at the earliest to concerned authorities for the revival of
MTNL and BSNL, the source told. Both the companies have also sought spectrum
for 4G services through equity infusion from the government. In the meeting it
was decided to help MTNL and BSNL in raising capital and operational
expenditure. There is a proposal of asset monetisation and there is also option
of loans though sovereign guarantee. DoT has been asked to work on the best
suited action that needs to be taken, the source said.
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JET AIRWAYS FLYING 26 AIRCRAFT, CAN CONTINUE INTERNATIONAL
OPERATIONS: GOVT
Jet Airways has 26
operating planes and can fly on international routes for now, said Civil
Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola. International operations of an
airline depend on the number of aircraft and seating capacity and Jet Airways
right now fulfils this criteria. The secretary said that airlines have to
comply with the 0/20 rule for international operations. The new 0/20 rules does
away with the five-year requirement, but carriers will still need to
demonstrate a fleet of 20 aircraft for international operations.
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VISTARA TO ADD 14 NEW FLIGHTS TO DOMESTIC NETWORK FROM APRIL 7
Full-service carrier
Vistara, which is set likely to commence services on international routes this
year, Wednesday announced the addition of 14 new flights in the domestic
network, starting April 7. The new additional services are being added to
Bengaluru, Kolkata and Hyderabad from Mumbai besides on the Hyderabad-Pune
routes to meet the demand during the peak travel season in the April-July
period, the airline said in a release. The services on the Mumbai Bengaluru
route will be operated five times per day, while flights to Hyderabad and
Kolkata from Mumbai will be one per day, the airline said, adding this flights
will operate between April 16 and July 15. In addition, one daily flight will
be operated on the Hyderabad Pune route between April 7 and April 30, it said.
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FOR TRANSPARENCY, YOU CAN'T DESTROY AN INSTITUTION: CJI RANJAN
GOGOI
Ranjan Gogoi on Thursday
said that while nobody wants an opaque system no institution can be allowed to
be destroyed in the name of transparency. He was responding to a plea to make
the selection of judges a transparent affair. We find good people who choose to
become judges. They fear negative things about them, right or wrong, will come out
into public domain, said the Chief Justice in response to advocate Prashant
Bhushan's arguments regarding transparency in the selection process. Finally,
not only do they not become judges, but their reputation is lost. It destroys
reputations, family, careers. For transparency you cannot destroy an
institution said the CJI. On Wednesday, the Attorney General argued for the
Supreme Court against the disclosure of information pertaining to judges'
appointment. Bhushan contended that judges do not inhabit in a different
universe, and even minutes of the Cabinet meetings were covered under the
transparency law. But for judges there has to be class exemption. Therefore,
selection of judges has to be kept out of public gaze. This is not being
transparent, he said.
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INDIA'S SPEND ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT LOW, ECOSYSTEM
CHANGING NOW
Rajiv Kumar Thursday said
the country's expenditure on research and development (R&D) remains low
and, however, the current government is changing the ecosystem We are still a
sub-1 per cent research and development (R&D) community. That's the
expenditure that we have of the GDP in our R&D. We need to do more towards
that, Kumar said. Kumar also said there is no joint collaboration between CSIR
labs and private labs in India which needs to be looked at. Another question
that needs to be asked is why our industries invest low on R&D, he added.
But from this government side, I am happy to share that the ecosystem is changing.
There is a positive change led by the government. There is a new focus and
emphasis towards science and technology. And I think, I now know there is a new
focus on biotechnology for river cleaning There is a new initiative that is
coming up with some malaria vaccine. New buzz in developing in science and
technology in this country, he said. Kumar said the gap between various
stakeholders in the science and technology space needs to be bridged and
interaction between the scientific community in India needs to be deepened with
that globally.
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NEED TO INCREASE INVESTMENT IN SCIENCE TO 1.2 PER CENT OF GDP
IN 3 YRS: VK SARASWAT
V K Saraswat Thursday made
a case for increasing the spending in science to 1.2 per cent of GDP in the
next three years and said scientific research institutions have been asked to
focus more on transformational research Saraswat further noted that the
government wants to promote research in basic sciences provided it should lead
to economic growth. Investment in science, if it becomes 1.2 per cent of GDP in
the next three years, I will be very happy, he said. Saraswat, further said
that there has been a great transformation taking place in terms of how science
have been managed through universities and scientific laboratories. All
scientific research institutions have been now asked to focus more on
transformational research rather than going into the basic research which is
not so much relevant. Amitabh Kant said that scientific community need to work
with entrepreneurs for India to grow at 10 per cent plus.
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DEDICATED FINANCING SUPPORT REQUIRED FOR SCALING UP ROOFTOP
SOLAR IN MSME SECTOR IN INDIA : REPORT
Scaling up rooftop solar
in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in India requires
addressing issues related to lack of low cost financing, inadequate level of
awareness and lack of rooftop aggregation models, according to a new report. A
well-conceived walk through survey depicted the willingness towards adoption of
rooftop solar applications but strengthening an enabling ecosystem shall be
critical for for its proliferation, said Tushar Sud. Abhishek Bhaskar said
Limited access to finance, lack of awareness and escalating energy expenses are
impacting the long-term profitability, competitiveness, and sustainability of
the sector. However, it presents great opportunity, and a multi-pronged
approach involving supportive regulations, risk-bearing financing, and
awareness building are needed to demonstrate viability and help scale up
rooftop solar in the sector, he added. Recommending possible solutions for
triggering rooftop solar growth in MSME sector in India, the report suggested a
dedicated aggregation vehicle would support implementation of rooftop solar
projects across target MSME clusters.
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ELECTION COMMISSION DENIES CLEARANCE TO 6 CONGRESS
ADVERTISEMENTS
The Election Commission
has refused permission for circulation to six campaign videos submitted by the
Congress in Madhya Pradesh, including one about the Rafale row, the party said
here Thursday. The party, while seeking a review of the decision, alleged that
the poll body was acting under the Union government's pressure. There was
nothing objectionable in these campaign teasers and it looks like there is
Centre's pressure on the EC, said Shobha Oza, state Congress media cell chief.
According to the EC, one of the advertisements did not pass muster as it
featured a disabled person. The video on the Rafale fighter jet deal did not
get clearance as a case related to the controversy is pending before the
Supreme Court.
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PRESIDENT SENDS EC REPORT ON GOVERNOR KALYAN SINGH’S REMARKS
TO HOME MINISTRY
After the Election
Commission wrote to the President about Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh’s
remarks that Narendra Modi should be re-elected as the Prime Minister was in
violation of the Model Code of Conduct, Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday forwarded
the report to the Home Ministry Kovind, who has returned from Chile, has sent
the Election Commission report to the Home Ministry for necessary action.
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JAITLEY DEFENDS ELECTORAL BONDS, ASK OPPONENTS TO SUGGEST
ALTERNATIVES
Arun Jaitley Thursday
defended the electoral bond scheme saying if donors are forced to disclose
their names the system of political funding through cash and black money will
return. The Election Commission, in an affidavit before the Supreme Court which
is hearing the matter, said electoral bonds have made political funding opaque
and would have serious repercussions on transparency of political funding, due
to its anonymous nature. If you ask people to disclose that (identity of a
donor) also, then I am afraid the cash system will be back, he said, adding
people find fault with the scheme but not come up with any alternative to check
the use of black money in the electoral process. There is a particular psychic
of individuals, particularly in NGO sector, that they don't suggest a solution
but they have a problem with every solution. The EC has also succeeded in many,
many areas and became an extremely successful role model Election Commission. But
money it has not been able to control, Jaitley said. He regretted that people
participating in this debate are finding flaws with the electoral bonds scheme
but are not suggesting any alternative. The SBI has sold electoral bonds worth
Rs 1,716 crore in January and March this year against the Rs 1,056 crore of
bonds sold in six months in 2018. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi
will hear the pleas challenging the validity of the Centre's decision on
issuance of electoral bonds for political funding on April 5. Jaitley said it
is a dangerous idea and could end up making India a confederation of states. I
think we need to improve our pace of growth, to eradicate poverty, need further
enrichment. I think we need decisiveness, need coherence and a five-year
government and not a six-month government, he said. Jaitley said that if India
can maintain its position as the fastest growing major economy in the world in
the next 10 years, it could become a reasonably middle-income economy,
depleting poverty to negligible levels.
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CONGRESS POLL PROMISE OF CURBING MONOPOLIES IN MEDIA
'ANACHRONIC': ARUN JAITLEY
Congress party's poll
promise of curbing monopolies in media and ending cross-ownership of media
segments is anachronic and aimed at restricting free journalism Arun Jaitley
said Thursday. In its election manifesto, the Congress has promised to pass a
law to curb monopolies in the media, cross-ownership of different segments and
control of the media by other business organisations. The media chapter (of the
Congress' manifesto) contains suggestions each one of which will regulate and
restrict free journalism and otherwise multiplicity of Indian media. It is
anachronic. It is not in tune with the times. However, even while drafting this
chapter, a new facility is sought to be provided to the terrorists and the
insurgents, Jaitley said in a blog. Jaitley said the internet is shut down when
operations against terrorism and insurgency are in progress. They have to be
exercised instantaneously. Restricting such power during anti-insurgency
operations or where caste or communal violence is on, will hinder national
interest. In some situations of either insurgent violence or massive social
tensions, frenzies can be created on the social media. The mischief makers want
to achieve that, he said. Jaitley said the Congress wants the power of the
security forces in this regard to be regulated. Cross holding concept is an
obsolete idea in India There is no 'real and imminent' danger of a monopoly,
said Jaitley, who is heading BJP's publicity division for the general
elections.
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P CHIDAMBARAM TRIES TO CORNER ARUN JAITLEY ON AFSPA
P Chidambaram Thursday
tried to corner Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the AFSPA issue, asking why he
was mum on the withdrawal of the controversial Act from Tripura, Meghalaya and
parts of Arunachal Pradesh. He also alleged that there is a flip flop gang in
the ruling BJP. Jaitley had criticised the Congress on Tuesday after the
opposition party announced in its manifesto that if voted to power, it will
review the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act that gives a degree of immunity
from prosecution to security forces deployed in disturbed areas. Chidambaram
also asked Jaitley whether he supports enforced disappearance, sexual violence
and torture, the allegations which are common in areas where AFSPA is in force.
We say that in these three cases there should be no immunity under AFSPA. What
does Mr Jaitley say? the former home and finance minister asked. Why has Mr
@arunjaitley not answered the questions on withdrawal of AFSPA from Tripura
(2015), Meghalaya (2018) and parts of Arunachal Pradesh (1-4-2019)?
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NATION FIRST, PARTY NEXT, SELF LAST: L.K ADVANI IN A BLOG POST
Lal Krishna Advani in a
blog expressed his views on a host of issues. The blog is seen more as a
conversation with the party cadres, especially at a time when not agreeing with
the government is being widely dubbed as anti-national in many quarters. He has
been upset since he was overlooked and BJP president Amit Shah decided to
contest from Gandhinagar. Expressing his views on the composite nature of
India's democracy, Advani said The essence of Indian democracy is respect for
diversity and freedom of expression Right from its inception, the BJP has never
regarded those who disagree with us politically as our enemies, but only as our
adversaries. The blog can also be viewed as a commentary on state of Indian
democracy. The guiding principle of my life has been ‘Nation First, Party Next,
Self Last.’ And in all situations, I have tried to adhere to this principle and
will continue to do so, emphasised Advani. He also urged his party to look
back, look ahead and look within. In short, the triad of Satya (truth), Rashtra
Nishtha (dedication to the Nation) and Loktantra (democracy, both within and
outside the Party) guided the struggle-filled evolution of my Party. The sum
total of all these values constitutes Sanskritik Rashtravad (Cultural
Nationalism) and Su-Raj (good governance), to which my Party has always
remained wedded. The heroic struggle against the Emergengy rule was precisely
to uphold the above values.
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MODI SHOULD HAVE CARRIED OUT SURGICAL STRIKE ON POVERTY,
UNEMPLOYMENT: KAPIL SIBAL
Senior Congress leader
Kapil Sibal Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having diminished
the status of his office with his statements and of speaking only about
Pakistan and not India and its people. Sibal also mocked Modi’s repeated talk
about the surgical strike, saying that it should have been carried out on poverty
and unemployment. Nobody has diminished the status of the office of the Prime
Minister more than Narendra Modi, the Congress leader said. Sibal said the kind
of dialogue the prime minister was indulging in was something he had never
witnessed before in his life. Actually this prime minister only talks about
Pakistan; he is not talking about Hindustan. He is the Prime Minister of
Hindustan, our prime minister, but it looks like his vision is only directed at
Pakistan, he said. Speak about your people also. Talk about your own people —
what you are doing for them. If he wanted to conduct a surgical strike, he
should have carried out a surgical strike on poverty, on unemployment. Those
are the surgical strikes that this nation needed, Sibal said. what surgical
strike? Surgical strike should be to empower our people, he said, adding that
corruption, unemployment and farm distress are the top three concerns for the
people. When Rs 1.8 crore cash is caught in the northeast from the convoy of a
chief minister, that’s not corruption. ‘Operation Lotus’ is not corruption? And
he (Modi) speaks about eliminating corruption, he said. Taking a jibe at Modi,
Sibal asked why the ‘chowkidar’ had allowed Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, both
wanted in the USD 2 billion PNB scam, to get away. Is this the kind of
‘chowkidar’ we want in this country? Sibal asked. Speaking about his party’s
manifesto, he said the Congress’ manifesto, which was released on Tuesday,
stood for economic progress and social justice and those are the pillars on
which the nation can move forward.
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ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE MAKERS TO SEEK APPROVALS FOR NEW LABELLING
NORMS: FSSAI
Alcoholic beverage makers
will seek approvals from excise commissioners to adopt new labelling norms
including statutory warnings on liquor bottles, food regulator Pawan Kumar
Agarwal said Thursday. He hoped that the new set of labelling norms would be
fully in place in six months. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI) had last year issued a regulation on alcoholic beverages and the same
became effective from April 1. As per this regulation, all liquor bottles need
to carry a statutory warning that consumption of alcohol is injurious to
health. Be safe-dont drink and drive. The FSSAI has given six months to the
manufacturer for use of unused labels and printed cans. Moreover, alcoholics
beverages manufactured prior to April 1, 2019, can be sold in the market up to
March 31, 2020. I think for alcoholic beverages sector, the implementation of
these standards is a significant way forward in order to improve the quality
and standards of alcoholic beverages available in the country, Agarwal told
reporters on the sidelines of a conference. In addition to excise commissioners,
the food safety commissioners would also look into the enforcement of these
standards, Agarwal said. On the labelling norms, the FSSAI's CEO said the new
labels including statutory warning would be fully effective from October 1. We
are not changing norms for languages as it is a sensitive issue as in many
states they do it in English and in other states, they do it in English as well
as local languages, Agarwal said.
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ELECTIONS HALT EXPRESSWAY PROJECTS TOTALLING RS 55,000 CRORE
IN UP
The 2019 Lok Sabha
election have virtually put the brakes on three mega expressway projects
totalling about Rs 55,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh. The three proposed projects,
which have been put in abeyance due to the model code of conduct include Ganga
Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway and Gorakhpur Link Expressway estimated to
cost nearly Rs 36,000 crore, Rs 14,000 crore and Rs 5,555 crore respectively. The
bidding will now be taken up after the elections are over, a senior UP
Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) official told. UP, which
accounts for the maximum number of 80 seats, will witness polling in 7 phases
viz. April 11, 18, 23, 29, May 6, 12 and 19, progressing from the Western
region towards the Eastern UP districts. In UP, more than 144 million
electorates will exercise their franchise, including more than 77.9 million
males, 66.1 million females and 8,374 third gender voters. The seven phases of
polling will witness voting in 8, 8, 10, 13, 14, 14 and 13 constituencies
respectively, spread across 75 districts in UP.
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NOW, FITCH FLAGS HIGH JOBLESSNESS, RURAL DISTRESS
Global ratings agency
Fitch Thursday said there has been a rise in unemployment in the country, and
attributed GDP growth deceleration to domestic factors like weak manufacturing
and dip in farmers' income. The agency, which also affirmed the sovereign
rating at BBB- with stable outlook, said the Reserve Bank will be on hold for
the remainder of 2019 after Thursday's second consecutive 0.25 percent rate
cut. Commenting on the recent data showing a deceleration in growth, the agency
said this is mainly driven by domestic factors, and emanates from weak
manufacturing and low food inflation weighing on farmers' incomes. It further
limited available indicators also point to a rise in unemployment The comments
on rural incomes and rise in unemployment come amid the election campaigns
where the issue of low job creation has gained greater prominence, with the
Opposition attacking the government performance. There have been concerns over
jobless growth, which were also voiced by the then labour minister Bangaru
Dattatreya in 2017. A study by the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy had
said as many as 1.1 crore jobs were lost in 2018 alone. The government has been
citing the growth in EPFO registrations to stress on how jobs have increased
and hiding negative dataprints on jobs and even growth. On the rural economy
front, farmers have taken out marches and protested in various pockets of the
country over a slew of matters. The government has announced an income support
scheme to farmers ahead of the elections. However, the agency noted that
governments of all hues have been reform-minded in the last 30 years. The
agency said GDP growth averaged 7.5 percent in the five years to FY19, which is
more than twice the 3.6 percent median growth in the 'BBB' peer grouping. Governance
standards remain weak as illustrated by a low score for the World Bank's
governance indicator, it said, pointing out that India is 47th percentile
versus the 'BBB' median of 59. The country's ranking on the UN Human
Development Index (32nd percentile vs the 'BBB' median of 67) also indicates
relatively low basic human development, it said. Modest fiscal slippages over
the targeted levels have stalled fiscal consolidation, it said, adding campaign
promises like supporting farmers' incomes will add to spending pressures in
FY20. The agency said it expects headline inflation to average 3.8 percent in
FY20 and that the central bank will look for opportunities to ease further,
even though its baseline projection is for a hold for remainder of 2019. The
capital injection by an additional 0.6 percent of GDP in FY19 provides banks
with a near-term reprieve, it said, adding this has aided the pick-up in credit
growth in recent months to 12.9 percent in January. Bad loans have improved to
10.8 percent in December 2018 from 11.5 percent in March, but the overhang of
the over USD 150 billion in stressed assets will be a concern, it said. Even
though the stress among NBFCs has receded, the sector's ability to provide
credit seems reduced, it said. The agency expects current account deficit to
come in at 2.3 percent in FY19, and underlined India is not immune to
emerging-market turmoil, as illustrated by the recent rupee depreciation.
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GOVT RESPONSIBLE FOR MTNL'S BAD STATE
The Congress on Thursday
alleged that the Modi government has conspired to shut down two state-owned
telecommunications companies – Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL). Randeep Surjewala said, The jobs of
around 2 lakh 20,000 employees in BSNL and MTNL would be at stake if the Modi
government would be voted back to power. The Congress spokesperson alleged that
the Central government has not deliberately allotted 4G spectrum to BSNL.
Surjewala further alleged that the licence of MTNL would be finally cancelled
as it telco won't be able to pay the Rs 11,000 crore licence fee. Stating that
the Modi government is blatantly practising select crony capitalism, Surjewala
said it is planning to close down BSNL and MTNL as part of its well-planned
conspiracy so that only three telcos – Jio, Vodafone and Airtel would be left
in the country. Prime Minister Modi has promoted the firms of his capitalist
friends. BSNL and MTNL are now on the verge of closure, he alleged.
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HC’S TIKTOK ORDER HAS MEITY IN A BIND
The government is studying
the ruling by the Madras High Court that asked the Centre to stop allowing
users to download Tik Tok, the Chinese app that is popular among teenagers in
the country, people familiar with the development said. Officials of the
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said that the order,
issued on Wednesday by the Madurai bench of the high court, is very hard to
implement and instead of the government it would be appropriate for the
affected party to appeal the matter. We are yet to go through the order in
detail, but it appears to be unimplementable, a senior government official told
on condition of anonymity. Rather than government getting involved at this stage,
it would be appropriate for the affected party to appeal the matter. The app,
which has been downloaded over 200 million times in India, is accessible on the
Google playstore. It also directed to its site, where court orders declaring
content unlawful could be uploaded, which then will be reviewed by Google.
TikTok is a two-sided platform with users and advertisers as the two sides. It
derives its revenues from advertisements and other in-app purchases by the user
although the use of the app itself requires no payment.
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COMPANIES CHOOSE THE PRIVATE ROUTE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE
INVESTMENT TRUSTS
More than two years since
its introduction and with three such trusts in existence, recent corporate actions
suggest private route is being preferred over a public listing for such
instruments. Reliance Industries- Digital Fibre Infrastructure Trust and Tower
Infrastructure Trust, Brookfield sponsored India Infrastructure Trust and
Oriental Structural Engineers sponsored InvIT are four similar instruments at
different stages of formalization. All three are expected to find investors
through the private route. While the private route allows for lower
disclosures, industry experts add there are more significant advantages. There
is a definite advantage for a privately held Invit as the valuation is set
after a mature discussion with a selected set of investors, who besides
bringing in long term capital also offer strategic inputs, said Shubham Jain,
group head and vice president for ICRA Ratings. At present, there are two
public listed InvITs- Sterlite Power’s India Grid Trust and IRB Infrastructure
Developers’ IRB InvIT fund. The third InvIT, Larsen & Toubro arm IDPL’s
IndInfravit, which is privately held. L&T’s InvIT’s yield have been higher
compared to the listed ones, said a person with direct knowledge on the InvIT’s
performance, who did not wish to be identified. When introduced, industry
experts pegged the instruments’ fund raising potential at $5 to $7 Billion.
However, both companies and investors have been slow in warming up to the
relatively new instrument. Mutual funds, for instance, are still to invest in a
big way in InvITs. Wealth managers expect the trend to change in future.
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BOEING 737 MAX GROUNDING LED TO STEEP RISE IN AIRFARES IN
INDIA: FITCH
Fitch Ratings said on
Friday the impact on the airline industry in Asia from the grounding of Boeing
737 Max jets has been muted so far but may worsen in the second quarter of
2019. Boeing's top-selling aircraft has been grounded worldwide since the March
10 Ethiopian Airlines disaster, which killed 157 people, and came just five
months after a Lion Air crash in Indonesia that killed 189. The grounding of
the model has had a limited impact on the fares and performances of airlines in
most markets due to seasonally low demand in the first quarter, Fitch said in
its report. It added that there is limited flexibility for airlines to switch
to alternatives from Airbus or Boeing. The Indian aviation market, however, has
seen a sharp rise in air fares in the recent months due to tight supply, partly
worsened by the suspension of the 737 MAX, Fitch said. A preliminary report in
the Ethiopian crash on Thursday showed that the doomed 737 MAX jet hit
excessive speed and was forced downwards by a wrongly-triggered automation
system as pilots wrestled to regain control.
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PRESIDENT KOVIND FORWARDS EC COMPLAINT FILE TO CENTRE ON
KALYAN SINGH
President Ram Nath Kovind
has forwarded to the Centre a complaint by the Election Commission (EC) against
Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh. The EC had written a letter to the President
stating that the Governor violated the model code of conduct by praising Prime
Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting with some BJP workers. On March 25, Singh
called for PM Narendra Modi's re-election ‘for the sake of the country’. He was
on camera saying at his hometown Aligarh that PM Modi's re-election is a
necessity for the country and the society and every party member should work
for it. He had said, We're BJP workers and want BJP to emerge victorious. We
want that once again Modi ji should become PM on 23rd May.
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PM NARENDRA MODI BIOPIC: SC DENIES URGENT LISTING OF PLEA
SEEKING STAY ON RELEASE
The Supreme Court on
Friday refused urgent listing of a plea seeking stay on the release of biopic
on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi
said, What biopic? We have not seen it. Perhaps we will watch it over the
weekend, then you mention. The bench told the lawyer, who mentioned the plea
for urgent listing, that it will come up in the regular course of hearing. The
apex court had on Thursday agreed to hear on April 8 a Congress leader’s plea
which sought deferment of the biopic’s release till the completion of the
upcoming Lok Sabha polls, alleging that it was designed to manipulate,
influence and impress viewers and voters.
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NAMO TV ROW: NO EXTENSION TO I&B MINISTRY TO FILE REPLY
The Election Commission
said Thursday the I&B Ministry will not be given any extension beyond
Friday to reply to its notice seeking a report on NaMo TV, after opposition
parties sought the suspension of its broadcast claiming it was launched in
violation of the model code of conduct. The channel, launched nearly two weeks
after the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha polls beginning on April 11
came into effect, carries the picture of Modi as its logo. It broadcasts
election rallies, speeches of the prime minister and interviews of BJP leaders.
The Congress has asked the poll watchdog to stop at the misuse of media and
ensure a level-playing field during the seven-phase election. Other opposition
parties too have criticised the BJP after the launch of the channel on March
31. The EC is expected to take a final call by Friday on whether NaMo TV
violates the model code after going through the documents the ministry sends to
it. The I&B Ministry had sought time till April 5 from the EC to reply.
They had said they have to obtain information from DTH platforms also, Deputy
Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena told.
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NAMO TV IS A SPECIAL SERVICE, NOT A NEWS CHANNEL: TATA SKY
MAKES U-TURN
Amid a raging debate over
NaMo TV, DTH service provider Tata Sky Friday did a volte-face saying the
channel is a special service and its content comes from the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP). Initially Tata Sky, through a tweet, had called NaMo TV a Hindi
news service which provides the latest breaking news on national politics. But
as debate raged over allegations of channel violating the model code of conduct
in place for the general elections, Tata Sky in a statement said: Namo TV is a
special service available to all subscribers The content of the service comes
from BJP. Tata Sky is a content distribution platform. For any content related
queries please connect with the owners of the content, it added. There is no
option to delete the individual channel, it had said in a separate tweet. The
tweets are no longer available on Tata Sky Twitter handle.
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18 INDIAN FISHERMEN ARRESTED FOR POACHING IN SRI LANKAN WATERS
Sri Lanka Navy has
arrested at least 18 Indian fishermen and seized three dhows (vessel) for
allegedly poaching in the country’s territorial waters. The Navy arrested the
fishermen in the seas 16 nautical miles west of Point Pedro during a Naval
patrol. Eighteen Indian fishermen were arrested from Tamil Nadu for allegedly
breaching the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and illegally fishing
in Sri Lankan waters, the Navy said. Three dhows used by them were also been
taken into naval custody and brought to SLNS Uttara in Jaffna, Colombo Page
reported. After a medical test, the fishermen will be handed over to the
Assistant Director of Fisheries in Jaffna for further investigation, the Navy
Media Unit said. In January 2018, Sri Lanka increased by over 100 times the
fine on foreign vessels to deter them from fishing in its waters, amid the
dispute over the frequent entry of Indian fishing trawlers into the country’s
maritime territory. The main aim of the move is to prevent illegal fishing
activities in the Sri Lankan waters and protect the fisheries and aquatic
resources of the country’s coastal belt.
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BMC PAID FOR AUDIT, BUT IGNORED REPORT ON CRACKS: AUDITOR
Accused structural auditor
in the CST bridge collapse incident, Neeraj Desai, claimed through his lawyers
in Esplanade Court on Thursday that he had pointed out major RCC cracks on the
bridge in his report, but that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) did
not act on it. Desai's lawyers, during the bail hearing, also pointed out that
the BMC had made a payment of Rs 38 lakh and issued a completion certificate to
Desai. The lawyers questioned why the two were given if, according to BMC's
claims, tests were never conducted on the bridge. Desai's lawyers Rizwan
Merchant and Srushti Thakkar argued before the court that Indian Penal Code
(IPC) Section 304 (II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) should be
dropped from the case. On Thursday, Public Prosecutor Rajendra Suryawanshi
argued that on August 6, 2018, a report given by Desai's company had stated
that the bridge was in good condition. We argued that in the December 26, 2016
report, Desai had clearly mentioned that there are major RCC cracks on the
bridge, on that BMC has not taken any action. Secondly, on October 4, 2018, BMC
had issued a 100 per cent completion certificate in favour of my client, which
means they were satisfied with the work, said Thakkar.
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UDAY KOTAK RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT FUTURE OF ELECTORAL BONDS
Uday Kotak, India’s
billionaire banker, has questioned the country’s finance minister about the
future of an opaque political financing tool days after the main opposition
party pledged to scrap the controversial instrument if it came to power.
Electoral reform has been talked about, Kotak, founder of Mumbai-based Kotak
Mahindra Bank Ltd., asked Arun Jaitley at an industry event in New Delhi on
Thursday. In that context, how do you see the path towards electoral reforms
and the role of electoral bonds in that journey. They don’t carry the name of
the donor and are exempt from tax. Questions about electoral bonds have
increased after the election watchdog last week told the Supreme Court that
anonymous donations have serious repercussions on the transparency of political
funding. Critics say they help legalize large anonymous donations that can potentially
lead to businesses and foreign companies gaining influence over the elections
that start on April 11. Jaitley replied to Kotak’s question saying the debate
about electoral bonds is ill informed. The bank knows your identity, your
balance sheet will disclose your name, that you bought so many bonds, Jaitley
said. So a reasonably transparent step. He added that the only non-transparent
part of the deal is which political party receives the money and, if this
disclosure is insisted upon, donors would return to the anonymity of cash
rather than use a bank instrument like the electoral bond.
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BSNL EMPLOYEES' UNION TO STAGE A THREE-DAY RALLY STARTING
APRIL 5
The Bharat Sanchar Nigam
(BSNL) employees’ union will stage a three-day rally starting April 5,
demanding implementation of the Third Pay Revision with 15 per cent fitment
among other things. This comes at a time when talks of lay-offs (to the tune of
35,000 people) are doing the rounds, amid a revival plan for the telco. The
Digital Communications Commission (DCC) is yet to take a final call on the
potential lay-off, said people in the know. The Union will march from the BSNL
office to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on all three days. Sources
in the union said BSNL’s services would not be impacted during the rally. In
February, 100,000 BSNL employees had called for a three-day strike, which
largely affected public banking networks and broadband connections in non-metro
cities. On Monday, the BSNL board met to discuss financial results, as well as
issues such as employee settlement and revival plans, among others. A board
member said, BSNL employees are getting salaries and there are no overdues. All
salaries have been cleared till March. The company had failed to pay salaries
to employees in February. At present, the DoT is in the process of placing the
revival plan before the Union Cabinet. It has sought the Election Commission’s
permission to do so given the upcoming elections.
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10 LAKH VOTERS ADDED LAST WEEK: EC
The Election Commission
(EC) Thursday said as many as 10 lakh voters were added to the electoral rolls
across the country last week, including four lakh first timers. It also said
that all preparations are being made for a smooth conduct of the first and
second phases of the Lok Sabha polls, in which over 2,900 candidates are in the
fray. We have added 10 lakh voters to the list, including four lakh new voters who
are in the age group of 18-19, Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena
told. When the EC announced the polls on March 10, it had said that there are a
total of about 90 crore voters in the country. He added that preparations for
conducting polls in the first two phases on April 11 and 18 are in full swing
and all facilities would be provided to all categories of voters. For the first
phase, he said, there are a total of 1,280 candidates in the fray, 1,188 men
and 92 women, while for the second phase (April 18), there are 1,674
candidates, 1,549 male and 125 female. The number of candidates trying their
luck in these two phases is 2,954.
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PENTAGON SAYS DEBRIS FROM INDIA'S ASAT TEST LIKELY TO BURN UP
IN ATMOSPHERE
The Pentagon said on
Thursday that it stood by its assessment that debris from an Indian
anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons test would eventually burn up in the atmosphere
even after NASA's administrator warned of the danger the debris posed. India
used an indigenously developed ballistic missile interceptor to destroy one of
its own satellites at a height of 300 km (186 miles), in a test aimed at
boosting its defenses in space. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said on
Monday that more than 400 pieces of orbital debris from the test had been
identified, including debris that was traveling above the International Space
Station - something he called a terrible, terrible thing. Bridenstine's
assessment contrasted sharply with the one offered by Acting U.S. Defense
Secretary Patrick Shanahan on March 28, when he played down the threat the
debris might pose to satellites in space and said it was his understanding the
debris would eventually burn up in the atmosphere. Asked on Thursday whether the
Pentagon stood by Shanahan's earlier assessment, spokesman Charlie Summers
said: Yes. In 2007, China destroyed a satellite in a polar orbit, creating the
largest orbital debris cloud in history, with more than 3,000 objects,
according to the Secure World Foundation. Since the impact altitude exceeded
800 km (500 miles), many of the resulting scraps stayed in orbit. Shanahan said
last week he believed India had avoided a similar scenario by testing at a
lower altitude. The White House struck a cautious tone on Thursday, saying it
was aware of Indian government statements about its efforts to mitigate debris
hazards. We will continue to closely monitor the remaining debris from India's
ASAT test to ensure the safety of assets on-orbit and human spaceflight
activities such as the International Space Station, said Garrett Marquis, a
National Security Council spokesman. Marquis said the United States remained
committed to working with all nations to mitigate the operational effects of
orbital debris.
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TOP ECONOMISTS LAY OUT AGENDA FOR THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF NEXT
GOVERNMENT
Top economists, on
Thursday, laid out political and economic agenda for the first 100 days of the
next government as the political parties gear up for the big battle with their
election manifesto. While former RBI governor Bimal Jalan said political
reforms should be the priority of the new government, Arvind Panagariya said
economic reforms is the need of the hour if India wants to grow at
double-digit. The new government should look at the enormous political powers
and the vested interest of its ministers who should be made accountable for all
the policies and schemes announced, Jalan said adding that political reforms
are needed if India wants to release it's full growth potential. According to
Jalan, the union cabinet has become a for a approval authority and there seems
to be erosion of collective responsibility of the Cabinet. Besides, new
government should ensure that implementation of policies should lie with
autonomous institutions with separation of power between ministers and civil
servants, Jalan said questioning the political role of the government in the
economy. Jalan is of the view that amendment of the anti-defection law as well
as transparent policy for funding of state elections should be other key
political reforms for the new government. Arvind Panagariya, said focus should
be on economic reforms, major being trade liberalisation, cheaper land
acquisition, privatisation of banks, reforms of higher education and
privatisation in general, beginning with privatisation of Air India. The new
government should bring down tariffs and rationalise them at 7%, bring down the
enormously high land acquisition cost for faster infrastructure development in
the country and bring about reform in the labour markets which has been a long
standing problem in India, Panagariya said.
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INDIA'S DOMESTIC AIR PASSENGER TRAFFIC RECORDS DOUBLE-DIGIT
GROWTH IN FEBRUARY: IATA
India registered
double-digit growth in domestic air passenger traffic for the 54th consecutive
month in February, global airlines' body IATA said Thursday. In February,
neighbouring China was the fastest-growing domestic market with revenue
passenger kilometre (RPK) growth of 11.4 per cent while that of India stood at
10 per cent. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said annual
growth in industry-wide RPKs eased to 5.3 per cent in February, broadly in line
with its long-run average rate of growth. Noting that India and Russia also
posted double-digit annual growth in February, the grouping said the two
markets continue to perform strongly. India is one of the fastest-growing
domestic aviation markets in the world
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THIS WILL BE INDIA’S LAST ELECTION IF MODI IS RE-ELECTED:
MAMATA BANERJEE
Mamata Banerjee on
Thursday continued her tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that
she will not allow anyone to implement National Register of Citizens (NRC) in
her state. Modi is no one to decide who will stay and who will leave, she said.
Mamata said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was an attempt by the BJP to
turn legal citizens of the country into refugees. She claimed that it was the
Bengal government which solved the six-decade-old enclave issue with Bangladesh
in 2015, and not the Modi government. The Trinamool chief referred to PM Modi
as a chaiwallah who failed to fulfil promises and has now turned into a
chowkidar to fool masses. She said that if he is re-elected to power then he
will do everything to defy it. This will probably be the last election in the
country, she said. Modi has three slogans loot, riots and kill the people, she
said.
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WHATSAPP TO MAKE WHATSAPP BUSINESS APP AVAILABLE FOR IPHONE
USERS
Messaging platform
WhatsApp Thursday said its WhatsApp Business app, which caters to enterprise
users, will now be available on Apple iPhones. One of the most frequent
requests we've heard from small business owners is they want to use the
WhatsApp Business app on the device of their choice. Now they can, WhatsApp
said in a statement. The WhatsApp Business app will be available free to
download from the App Store in Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, India, Mexico, the
UK and the US from Thursday and will be rolled out to other countries in the
coming weeks, the statement issued on Thursday said.
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IRON ORE EXPORTS TUMBLE 32% IN APR-FEB ON WEAK DEMAND, STEEP
EXPORT DUTY
Iron ore exports from the
country tumbled 32 per cent to 14.07 million tonnes (mt) during the
April-February period of FY19. Fragile demand in the international markets,
primarily China and the prevailing steep export duty of 30 per cent on higher
grade ore dragged exports. Exports of iron ore pellets, too, declined 7 per
cent in the April-January period of last fiscal due to uncertainty in winter output
cuts in China and weak inquiries from the non-Chinese markets. Of late, demand
for pellets has subsided in China as the steel makers there have shown a
greater appetite for lower grade iron ore fines. The crisis stemming from
Vale's Brazil mines has precipitated a supply crunch globally and more so in
China, the biggest iron ore buyer of the miner's production. The acute supply
crisis has goaded China's steel firms to source more lower grade iron ore fines
from Odisha. However, superior grade ore is still unviable for exports owing to
the 30 per cent duty, said an industry source. The supply turmoil in global
markets has pushed up the prices of iron ore. Till December 2018, seaborne iron
ore prices were range-bound at $65-75 per tonne. However, after the major dam
breach at Vale's Brazil mines in January 2019, prices of iron ore have
rocketed, hitting $88, the highest since August 2014.
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
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